


If I Close My Eyes I Can Pretend That This Is Okay

by BreakTheDawn



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Gore, Gen, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Minor Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Protective Shiro (Voltron), Sad Shiro (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2018-11-17 13:27:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11276217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreakTheDawn/pseuds/BreakTheDawn
Summary: Lance has accepted that some people appreciate his personality and others don't.He just never that the guy he'd always aspired to be like would fall into the latter category.“Blue,” Lance says softly. His Lion hums in concern, obviously noticing how low his mood is. The blue paladin swallows around the lump in his throat, eyes annoyingly hot.“Shiro doesn't like me.”...Or.Lance notices something very disheartening about his relationship with his leader, and attempts to correct it....Things don't go very well.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I really shouldn't be starting another chaptered fic when I'm still working on my other series, but this idea grabbed a hold of me and I just couldn't go without getting it out there. I won't say much on this, but if you know me from "A Song of Storm and Ice", I won't talk about how terrible I am here, but just know that an update is coming for that very soon. 
> 
> I'll save most of my notes for the end, but please enjoy and pay attention to the tags and warnings please!

Life really  _ sucks  _ sometimes when you're a Cuban boy named Alejandro McClain. 

 

Lance wonders (and not for the first time) if he really truly deserves all of the crap that seems to go wrong for him. His older brother Arturio had always said that sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. But things have been getting progressively worse for months now, Lance realizes as he stares up at the atmosphere awash in fiery red, to the point where things have literally become apocalyptic.

 

Maybe he was a really shitty person in a past life. Maybe he kicked puppies, punched babies and pushed old people into running traffic and now the universes is bringing everything full circle.

 

Lance is a pretty go with the flow type of guy under most circumstances, but the blue paladin really feels as though there has to be a reason he's currently pinned under the remains of a huge cage on a world that is actually in the process of ending. 

 

There has to be a reason that Shiro sent him here to die.

 

“Tch,” Lance scoffs, mouth sticky with the steady stream of blood running from it. There's no way he's getting out of this alive. “And it's all my fault too,” he mutters to himself. 

 

Because at the end of the day, that's the reason. Lance has done this to himself. Everything that's happened in the past three months can be traced back to that one idiotic decision he made. Just because he was full of himself.

 

“And I didn't even reach my goal,” Lance whimpers softly as the ground shakes beneath him and jostles the bar that's stuck through his side and buried deep within the rock below him. 

 

It was a dumb goal anyway, he realizes then and there. He was always going to make things worse by trying, but he had to be so damn  _ stubborn _ . 

 

“Sorry,” Lance murmurs. He's not quite sure who he's apologizing to. Shiro? The other paladins? Allura and Coran? His family back on earth? 

 

Blue? 

 

And ache twists in his heart as he thinks about his Lion. It almost hurts more than the agonizing pain from where his left leg is almost completely shredded.

 

The blue paladin isn't even sure why he's clinging onto life at this point. It's more than obvious to him that once he closes his eyes and drifts off that he's never opening them again. 

 

Is it pride? That's part of what started all of this shit in the first place.

 

“Blue,” Lance calls out softly, vision going blurry with tears. “I'm coming girl.”

 

It's a lie. He highly doubts that humans and sentient magical robots go to the same place after they die. But saying it aloud alleviates some of his ache, somehow. Or maybe he's just finally going numb.

 

As Lance allows his eyes to slip closed, he can't help but remember the exact point in which he set his fate. 

 

All of this because he couldn't leave well enough alone.

 

…

 

It starts with nothing more than a look.

 

The Castle of the Lions is  _ boring _ .

 

No matter how alien, or how big and expansive it is, the fact that remains is that Lance does not know how to make ninety percent of the shit in this place work. Which means he ran out of stuff to do and occupy himself with pretty early on. 

 

And what does one do when one gets bored? They get creative.

 

“Aw yeah!” Lance cheers as his board picks up speed down the hallway.

 

“Lance!” Hunk calls anxiously from somewhere behind him, “slow down! I don't think the goo dispensers are meant to discharge stuff that fast!”

 

“Seems like it's working fine to me!” The blue paladin calls back, pressing down harder on the trigger and leaving a trail of food goo behind him as he makes a sharp turn on his makeshift hoverboard. 

 

They've been stationary in this star system for an entire two Earth weeks by now, waiting for Coran to finish some odd calibrations to the Castle’s autonomous maintenance system. 

 

Lance didn't understand the full gist of the explanation, but it basically amounted to “this ship is normally run by dozens of people at a time and now it's only run by three and half (Pidge had  _ not  _ been happy with Lance's interjection at that point), and the lack of full service upkeep is finally catching up to us.” 

 

Hence why they ended up picking a system almost completely devoid of intelligent life to bunk down in and made the decision to run small group missions for the time being. 

 

And of course “small group missions” amounted to “Shiro, Keith and either Hunk or Pidge if necessary but no Lance.” 

 

So now Lance is here, cruising on a hoverboard he had Hunk mod so that he could get some actual speed out of it. 

 

And he's completely aware of the fact that this is not going to go over very well when the Princess or Shiro get a look at the mess of goo he's left in the halls, but Lance is completely prepared to deal with that and clean up the entire mess of only to resolve some of his persistent boredom. Not his fault that they always say “no” when he asks if he can join a small group mission.

 

If Lance thinks too hard about the implications of that, then he'll only upset himself, and he's been doing too well at avoiding his darker mindsets so far to let that happen.

 

So, food-goo hoverboard.

 

“Lance I really think you should slow down!” Hunk calls, following slowly behind on his own hoverboard without the goo mod. “The engine might explode!”

 

“Eh!” Lance waves him off, curving dangerously and leaving a splatter of goo on the wall in his wake. “I trust your design bud!”

 

Hunk, bless his lovely heart, had been all for helping Lance do something for a change (probably because he knows just how bad Lance can get if he feels like he isn't doing anything for too long). His bestie is probably regretting his choice now, and Lance would feel bad about it if he didn't already promise to take all the blame and make Hunk a hair conditioner as payment for his services.

 

“You  _ shouldn't _ !” The yellow paladin insists, “I drew it up in a tiny alien coloring book with weird alien crayons that fade out in certain lighting!”

 

“Don't worry!” Lance laughs as he pulls off a loop in the air, goo spiraling around him in a wide arc. “Everything will be fine!”

 

So of course that's the moment where Keith decides to appear out of  _ nowhere _ .

 

“Look out!” Hunk shrieks from down the hall.

 

“Oh  _ shit _ !” Lance cries, releasing the trigger in his hand completely. 

 

The hoverboard does not slow down.

 

Keith seems to take a second to process the scene, eyes half lidded and stance lethargic (obviously back from his mission with Shiro and Pidge). Lance is honestly a bit impressed by how quickly the red paladin's eyes go from “sleepy time” to “fuck.” 

 

Sadly enough, that second is all it takes for Lance to crash into a now wide-eyed Keith. 

 

They both let out strangled yelps as their bodies meet with a hard thud and the board goes flying off into the wall, sending them rolling across the hallway floor and leaving them covered in goo.

 

Lance finds himself dazed for a few seconds as he clumsily tries to separate his limbs from Keith's.

 

The red paladin groans, head lolling back and forth. Lance can perfectly imagine little red lions circling around Keith's head at the moment and finds himself chuckling despite the ache from where his friend's head hit his chest. 

 

“What the hell?” Keith murmurs in confusion before he shakes it away and his eyes focus on Lance attempting to stand.

 

“Er…” the blue paladin waves awkwardly as Keith's face starts to go red, “...hi?”

 

The red paladin opens his mouth, murder in his eyes, but gets cut off before he even starts.

 

“ _ What _ is going on?” Shiro's voice asks incredulously, and they both turn to see the black paladin and Pidge exit from a door next to where the hoverboard has ended up.

 

“Lance! Keith!” Hunk says loudly, gliding up slowly on his board and stopping it next to them. “Are you guys ok? I told to you slow down Lance!”

 

“Ah-hahaha,” Lance chuckles sheepishly, face going slightly red in embarrassment. Why does his idol always have to see him right after he fails spectacularly? “Yeah buddy,” he murmurs, “guess I should have listened.”

 

“Why are you covered in food goo?” Pidge asks, eyeing the hoverboard (which is still whirring with power) warily.

 

The question seems to draw attention to hallway and ceiling for Shiro. Lance would laugh at the way their leader's jaw drops if he didn't feel a lecture coming on.

 

“What!?” Shiro asks loudly, voice a weird mixed between confused and done. “How did you manage to do that!?”

 

“Um…” Lance says meekly.

 

“Are you guys serious?” Shiro turns to hit him and Hunk with a stern look, “Is this what happens when you two get left alone? You go around and make a mess of the Castle?”

 

“Well,” Hunk starts, eyes wide.

 

“There's food goo everywhere,” the eldest cuts him off, “it's down as far as I can see! We were gone for three hours!” 

 

Hunk begins stammering, clearly unsure of how to explain the situation away. Lance sighs.

 

“It was my fault Shiro,” ever a man of his word, the blue paladin waits until the leader is focuses just on himself. “I wanted to use the hoverboards we found last week,” he explains, “but they're like, granny slow.

 

Pidge snorts. And then studiously looks away when Shiro shoots her an unimpressed gaze.

 

“So I bugged Hunk until he agreed to attach and engine to it to make it go faster,” Lance continues on, “but the only thing that we could use with similar tech was the food goo dispensers. So we took one apart and did a little experiment.”

 

“You mean Hunk took it apart and did a little experiment?” Shiro questions, eyebrows raised.

 

“No,” Lance frowns, “I mean  _ we _ .”

 

Because he did in fact help in the process. Lance may not be a wizard of engineering like his best friend but he can follow instructions well enough. 

 

“So this is on you both,” Shiro concludes.

 

“ _ No _ ,” Lance repeats, voice firm. “It's on me,” he insists, “it was my idea, and I didn't listen when Hunk tried to calm me down. That's why I crashed into Keith. If Hunk is to blame for anything, then it's for being an awesome bro and humoring me.”

 

Hunk smiles at Lance, and the blue paladin can just imagine all of the sappy friendship crap that's going through the guy's head right now. Being stuck together in space has a tendency to make epic friendships even more epic than before, he's learned.

 

“Well that's surprisingly mature of you to take all of the responsibility like that,” Shiro nods.

 

_ Surprisingly _ ? 

 

Lance frowns harder, the good feeling of having fun for a change fading fast. What the hell is “surprisingly”? 

 

He doesn't ask though, because it's at this point that he really perceives the  _ look _ .

 

Lance is a middle child, an attention seeker, a mediator, an epicenter for annoyance and frustration. Not everyone appreciates a personality like his, and he's become well-versed in determining who those people by a certain look.

 

Shiro might not even know that he's doing it, but Lance is more perceptive than people give him credit (which is odd, because he uses a damn rifle in battle). 

 

Eyes hard and stony, posture tense and unfriendly, lower lip pulled ever so slightly down in hidden-but-completely-hidden disdain. 

 

It's very subtle on Shiro, but it's there. The look of someone who's just barely tolerating his presence.

 

“But this cannot happen Lance,” the leader states firmly, “you can't rope your fellow paladins into doing things like this. What if you had seriously injured Keith?”

 

Lance turns to look at the red paladin, who by now has gotten to his feet and looks none the worse for wear other than the food goo stuck in his hair and on his shoulders.

 

“Sorry,” Lance murmurs, because he knows when he's in the wrong for something. Keith looks fine, but that's probably because he mostly collided with Lance and not the board.

 

“It's fine or whatever,” Keith huffs, crossing his arms. “You couldn't have known that I was going to be right there.”

 

Lance stares, mildly shocked by the super reasonable response.

 

“Of course you're an idiot for trying that in the first place though.”

 

The blue paladin scoffs.  _ That's  _ the Keith he was looking for.

 

Still, he keeps his snippy comments to himself, because he knows that this is on him.

 

“And the mess, Lance,” Shiro goes on, bringing the attention back to hall. “Did it ever occur to you that you're messing up someone's  _ home _ ?”

 

That stings a bit, Lance realizes. He thinks about Allura and Coran, and about how he always hated when people messed up his bookshelf in his shared room.

 

“Point,” the blue paladin mutters, shoulders drooping. He feels nice and scolded now.

 

“You need to clean this mess up,” Shiro orders, arms crossed. “And while Lance is taking full responsibility for this,” the black paladin looks at Hunk, “it wouldn't be unfair for you to help out a bit considering the role you played.”

 

Hunk nods, and begins to speak. Probably apologizing himself. But Lance is completely engrossed by how Shiro's face seems to soften ever so slightly when he looks at the yellow paladin.

 

No fucking way.

 

Lance opens his mouth, ready to test his theory and see how Shiro looks at him when it happens.

 

The grounded hoverboard begins to shake violently.

 

“Uh-oh,” Pidge yelps, moving out of the way quickly.

 

Shiro is not so lucky though, as the leader just barely gets a chance to look at the board before the add on engine exploded, sending a wave of food goo outwards.

 

The paladins watch in horrified fascination as their leader gets covered head-to-toe in food goo.

 

A pause.

 

“I knew it would explode,” Hunk whispers.

 

Pidge turns and begins walking down the hallway toward the wing with the lab, trying and failing to hide her uncontrollable giggles.

 

“Yikes,” Keith deadpans, and Lance hears his footsteps trail away. “Good luck guys.”

 

Traitors.

 

“I-” Lance begins, but Shiro raises a hand sharply.

 

“Hunk,” the leader says quietly, “take the hoverboards back to wherever you found them, and then fix that dispenser and reattach it where it belongs.”

 

“Yessir!” Hunk says quickly, shooting Lance a supportive look before scrambling off to do just that.

 

There's silence in the hallway. Lance feels bad now. This ended up not even being worth the half an hour of fun.

 

“Lance,” Shiro gives him the look again, which makes the blue paladin flinch. “Get to work,” the leader says blandly, before turning and stalking away.

 

Lance looks down at the splattering of goo all over the walls and floor. It really does go down as far as he can see. 

 

“...Does he always look at me like that?” 

 

….

 

Lance decides to test the theory.

 

He cleans the hallways, makes them spotless even, to the point where neither Allura or Coran can tell that anything happened. 

 

At dinner that night, Lance keeps a close look on their leader and how he interacts with everyone. The first thing he notices is that Shiro is quiet. 

 

Of course he's known this in his head. Their black paladin and their red paladin don't make a habit of being very social except with each other. But Lance has never realized just how much of Shiro's interactions with everyone is through his face.

 

The guy keeps a slight commentary on things that Pidge says, and almost always looks on her with a gaze of somber fondness. He cares about her so much, but he also carries a weight of guilt around her. But he also looks incredibly proud when Pidge goes off on a tangent. Like how an older brother would look at his talented younger sister. Lance would know.

 

Allura doesn't talk very much outside of Voltron business, preferring to observe her paladins interact. When she does speak, it's generally to Shiro, often to confirm an observation about human culture or to comment on the paladin bond. Shiro looks at her like the Princess she is, like he's honored to be in her presence and to be someone she trusts. Lance doesn't it's romantic though, there's a divide between them with its roots in professionalism. They respect each other, and like to work with one another, but are hyper aware that their relationship is just a part of a bigger goal.

 

Coran loves to talk to the paladins, Lance in particular. He likes to share anecdotes of Altea and question them about their Earth customs and just in general have a conversation with them if only to learn more about them. Shiro tends to regard the advisor with a level of fondness and amusement that Lance equates with someone looking at their crazy uncle. Which is perfectly fitting.

 

And of course Shiro looks at Keith like the red paladin is everything his needs in the universe. 

 

_ No _ , Lance thinks. That's not quite fair. Keith is the one who looks at Shiro like he hung the stars. Shiro kind of looks at Keith that way, but there's a hesitation there that Lance thinks can be attributed to the black paladin's time with the galra. Sometimes Lance feels like Shiro doesn't actually remember too much of his life before the galra, and it shows in how he looks at and interacts with Keith (and Pidge to an extent). Like he remembers how much Keith means to him, but doesn't quite remember how they got there.

 

Shiro doesn't talk to Hunk very much outside of Voltron business. Which kind of bothers Lance, because Hunk is a great guy to talk to. But he does regard the yellow paladin with a look of respect, likely due to Hunk's amazing skills with tinkering and putting things together. There's also a subtle smile Shiro gives Hunk sometimes, like he sometimes thinks that the yellow paladin is adorable. Which Lance totally gets, because Hunk is a teddy bear.

 

Shiro doesn't look at Lance like that.

 

Lance is an attention grabber, and while he would normally tone it down a bit after so obviously pissing the leader off earlier, he decides not to do that tonight.

 

“-And the Hunk totally threw up!” Lance chuckles, after recounting a story about how he let Pidge pilot one of the simulations at the Garrison, back when they were just getting the footing as a team.

 

“You just assigned the controls over to me!” Pidge complains through her cackling.

 

“You said that you could do better than me!” Lance retorts, laughing jovially while keeping an eye on the reactions at the table.

 

Hunk takes it in stride like always, throwing his head back in jolly laughter. Coran looks absolutely delighted to hear about their simulators. Allura looks and odd cross between amused and horrified. And even Keith offers up a grin when Lance goes on to talk about he and Hunk overloaded the simulation one night by pressing random commands.

 

Shiro is amused by the stories, but not by Lance.

 

The blue paladin watches. He watches as Shiro chuckles and smiles at the crazier parts of the story, affords Hunk and Pidge gazes of disbelief and amusement. But his face seems to shutter a bit when it passes over Lance. The smile isn't as genuine, the laugh not as loud, and the Cuban boy is almost positive that their leader cuts him a disapproving look when he thinks that Lance isn't paying attention.

 

Lance smiles and laughs and continues to tell stories of their failures, but he feels just a bit brittle. 

This is one of the times where Lance really didn't want to be right.

 

…

 

He wants to be wrong so badly, that he continues to pay close attention for the next week.

 

Coran's calibrations are going fast for only having him do it with the occasional input from Pidge, but it's still only one man trying to do a task for an entire team, and so they stay in the star system. Shiro and Keith continue to go on little escapades. Lance continues to be horribly bored.

 

But he deals with it. 

 

Lance decides to keep a low profile for a few days. Decides to be as mellow and not-annoying as he can possibly be in order to make sure he's right.

 

He does his best as normal in training, but keeps his comments and complaints to a minimum. Shiro's expressions consist of blank professionalism and stoic approval at best, to barely hidden exasperation and quiet irritation at worst.

 

He goes around and visits everyone in the castle during down time, but avoids being loud or obnoxious near Shiro and only riles up Keith a little bit. Shiro doesn't really look at him at all beyond brief acknowledgments and overtly polite nods.

 

He does continue to volunteer to go on missions, and holds back the majority of his complaints when he's told by both Allura and Shiro that they don't need his skill set yet. Lance gets it in a way, they're mainly stealth missions or information gathering missions, which is why Hunk and Pidge are always a good choice, but why does Keith always get to go? They can't always need a close range fighter _ all the damn time. _

 

Ok. Maybe he doesn't keep his complaints in very well. 

 

Shiro looks like he may be understanding, but then always slips into a look of plain annoyance if Lance protests more than once. 

 

By the end of another week, Pidge is giving curious looks, Keith is giving him confused looks, Hunk is giving him concerned looks.

 

And Shiro? 

 

Well, Shiro just looks at Lance like he's only tolerating him because he has to.

 

Lance sits in Blue's hangar one night, allowing the cool comfort of his Lion to distract him from his uncomfortable realization. Because he's right. He knows he's right. Lance has accepted that some people appreciate his personality and others don't. 

 

He just never that the guy he'd always aspired to be like would fall into the latter category.

 

“Blue,” Lance says softly. His Lion hums in concern, obviously noticing how low his mood is. The blue paladin swallows around the lump in his throat, eyes annoyingly hot.

 

“Shiro doesn't like me.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re not hurt are you?” Shiro expresses genuine worry here. But he’s the leader, and a more-than-decent guy, so of course he’d be worried about someone getting hurt. Lance decides to test a theory.
> 
> “Aw…” he smiles as obnoxiously as he allows his voice to be, “are you worried about me? I knew you cared~” 
> 
> Shiro’s face immediately shutters, concern shoved out of the way by exasperation. Keith huffs a sigh from the black paladin’s side, Pidge snorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-dah! Welcome one and all to another installment of Le Langst! 
> 
> I don't have much to say on this beforehand, other than to remind you guys that Shiro is still our cinnamon roll! I promise. (And to acknowledge the sheer overwhelming response to just the first chapter of this fic. Like, thank you all so much? I read all the comments and they're literally the greatest thing? I hope I can meet up to you expectations and hype lol.)

So Lance has options here. And he has to consider them carefully.

 

Despite what most would say, the blue paladin has developed a pretty strong sense of awareness in his humble seventeen years, so he knows very well what he should be thinking about before deciding what to do about Shiro.

 

“Good work Pidge,” the center of his thoughts says, holding a hand out to their youngest paladin.

 

And that's if he does anything to begin with. 

 

“Thanks,” Pidge huffs as she takes Shiro's hand, allowing him to tug her up from where she'd been sitting down after performing a particular difficult dodge.

 

Lance watches from where he's sitting Hunk, who is animatedly talking to Keith about Red's thrusters. If his best friend notices how quiet Lance has been during this little mini post-dinner training session (and Lance is almost positive that it's been noticed by everyone), then he doesn't say anything about it.

 

“You’re very mobile, and that’s great,” Shiro says sincerely. “But here are some ways you can avoid throwing your weight around too much…”

 

The first thing he has to determine is why Shiro doesn’t like him. Which, honestly, isn’t very hard to determine. 

 

The black paladin obviously doesn’t appreciate Lance’s personality very much. The boy has come to learn over the years that people deal with him best when they don’t take him or themselves too seriously. It’s what makes his more annoying qualities (and  _ yes _ , Lance is very aware of how annoying he can be) seem more endearing or amusing than anything else. 

 

If Shiro gets annoyed with Lance because he takes the blue paladin too seriously, then that should be easy to work around. Lance should be able to fix it by letting himself be a bit more open and affectionate with Shiro, sort of like he is with Hunk. But if it’s because Shiro takes  _ himself  _ too seriously (which is honestly a toss up), then that might be a bit more difficult, because it would require Shiro opening up to Lance in order for the blue paladin to figure out how to remedy that.

 

“...You’re doing very well,” Shiro finally finishes his advice to Pidge, patting her on the shoulder and giving a soft smile that Lance has never seen up close. “Keep it up.”

 

And that’s assuming that Shiro himself just doesn’t like Lance’s personality, the blue paladin realizes. The blue paladin glances over at Keith briefly. Maybe Shiro dislikes him on behalf of someone else. 

 

It’s plausible. Lance has been disliked based on how he interacts with others many times in the past. Shiro and him haven’t spent any real one-on-one time together as of yet, so it’s entirely possible that the black paladin has no idea what to make of Lance’s personality, and only gets annoyed with him based on the fact that he picks with Keith. 

 

Lance frowns to himself. Because that would actually be kind of petty, if that’s the case. Shiro doesn’t strike him as a mean-girl type. 

 

The blue paladin watches as Shiro moves to stand over Keith and Hunk, apparently curious about how Hunk plans on upgrading Red’s thrusters (Lance knows his friend’s exact plans, they’re impressive). He hums thoughtfully.

 

Shiro  _ does  _ strike him as the protective type though. And Lance has been skeptical of the true nature of their leader and Keith’s relationship for awhile now. Maybe the teasing and posturing and even the occasional flirting that Lance does with red paladin rubs Shiro the wrong way because the two are a thing, or used to be a thing.

 

Doesn’t make it any less petty, but a bit more understandable.

 

_ ‘Ugh…’  _ Lance groans mentally, ‘ _ why does Shiro have to be so complicated?’ _

 

Maybe it’s going to be harder than he thought to determine exactly why Shiro doesn’t like him.

 

He has very little evidence to come to a conclusion really. Lance thinks that’s it’s mainly because Shiro takes him a little too seriously most of the time as of right now, but he’s going to have to test the theory to be sure.

 

“ _ Lance _ ,” comes an exasperated huff. 

 

The blue paladin blinks, and then turns to look up at Shiro, who is suddenly right next to him. And probably called his name more than twice based on the furrow of his brows.

 

“Y-yeah?” Lance responds. Just his luck, he’s already made it worse rather than better.

 

“I was saying that it’s your turn,” the black paladin states, “I want you to practice dodging the gladiators strikes.”

 

“Oh,” Lance perks up, “yeah, let’s do it!”

 

He’s loud on purpose, just to see if Shiro will wince. He does.

 

Lance ignores Hunk’s concerned stare and Keith’s odd look as he gets to his feet and follows Shiro back to the middle of the training deck. He wonders how long it will take before someone asks him why he’s been so reserved this past week. 

 

“This is just simply dodging,” Shiro explains unnecessarily, “no using your bayard or fighting back, the purpose is to work on your maneuverability in the field.”

 

Lance frowns, “I know, like you said earlier.”

 

_ Three  _ times. Once at breakfast, another time just as they were walking into the training deck, and again after Shiro had demonstrated. And Lance may have been spacing out slightly due to the fact that he was caught up in his theories, but he’s almost positive that Shiro did not repeat himself again to anyone else. 

 

“Just making sure you got it,” Shiro responds easily, stepping off to the side to watch.

 

Lance mentally adds ‘ _ he thinks I’m stupid _ ’ to the “ _ Reasons Why Shiro Doesn’t Like Me _ ” list.

 

“Don’t worry bossman!” he says cheerfully, “protect my beautiful face and don’t break a nail! Gotcha!”

 

“Do more than protect you face, Lance.”

 

The blue paladin gives their leader an incredulous stare. There’s no way in  _ hell  _ that Shiro should have missed the fact that Lance was joking. 

 

‘ _ Definitely takes me too seriously _ ,’ the blue paladin concludes, deciding not to respond and instead facing forward.

 

“Ready?” Shiro asks.

 

“Sure am, bossman!”

 

“Begin training sequence.”

 

The gladiator appears in a flash of particles, which never fails to entrance Lance for a few seconds, because  _ wow  _ is Altean tech a marvel to watch in action. 

 

The gladiator fixes Lance with dead eyes, and immediately lunges forward with it’s staff.

 

If only it were just as nice to be in action  _ with  _ it.

 

Lance ducks under a swing from the gladiator easily enough, but he knows for a fact that they don’t move like humans do. Which is why he’s prepared for how the robot reverses its momentum so fast and throws the staff back around in a maneuver that would leave most people with a dislocated shoulder at very best. 

 

Lance dodges to the left, which isn’t the most ideal thing that he could have done, given that it’s not his dominant side. It does the job of getting him out of the way, but leaves him temporarily vulnerable as he has to steady himself using his left hand that tends to falter when taking most of his weight. 

 

It does so now as well, which results in Lance getting caught in the side by the gladiators staff.

 

“Ow!” Lance yelps as his body goes rolling a few feet away. Damn do those things hit hard. 

 

“Pause.” 

 

The gladiator halts in its movements, already in position to charge after Lance. 

 

“You started off well,” Shiro states from where he stands, “but you may have done better dodging to the right at that moment.”

 

“No kidding?” Lance grumbles sarcastically, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

 

“I’m  _ serious _ ,” Shiro says imploringly, “it seems like you have a bit more trouble with your left side when it comes to taking your weight.”

 

_ ‘Ok’ _ , Lance thinks,  _ ‘this dude for sure takes me  _ way  _ too seriously _ .’

 

“Broke my wrist when I was in middle school,” he says instead of laughing inappropriately like he really wants to, “never been quite the same since.”

 

“I see,” Shiro nods, “we can work on how to overcome that another time. Just keep it in mind for now.”

 

Lance hums in response. The leader’s tone is clinical, almost detached. He speaks almost exactly how some of the trainers at the Garrison spoke. Which is fitting, because Shiro was most likely a trainer himself for a period of time. But it’s also a bit disheartening, because none of those trainers could ever remember Lance’s name (Hell, some of them even began referring to him as  _ ‘Kogane’s Replacemen _ t’ when they thought he couldn’t hear), so it’s not exactly nice to hear Shiro take the same tone with him. 

 

“Ready to go again?” Shiro asks. Lance gives a thumbs up as he drags himself to his feet. “Resume.”

 

The gladiator springs into immediate action, Lance braces himself. 

 

These robots are both stronger and faster than all of the paladins, so the way to avoid their attacks generally consists of letting them get close and taking advantage of the fact that they can  only do certain moves. 

 

The staff wielding gladiators strike in either wide arcs or sharp thrusts, nothing in between, so Lance uses that to his advantage. He keeps his own movements sharp and small as he ducks and moves out of the way of the gladiator’s swings, several hits almost clip him, but that’s unavoidable. 

 

He counts about eight hits dodged before the gladiator changes tactics, adjusting it’s grip on the staff and resting the bottom end of it on it’s massive shoulders for leverage. 

 

Lance gulps, spreading his knees to get a better sense of balance. It only takes a second for the gladiator to begin thrusting the staff at the blue paladin. 

 

This is a bit more difficult to deal with. The gladiators attacks get just that much faster, but Lance has the advantage of knowing that they always go for disabling spots when they get like this. He doesn’t have to move his legs as much as his torso.

 

The blue paladin twists and arches out of the way of the gladiators thrusts to his ribcage and his neck, legs only moving to keep a safe distance. He can’t let it get too close, or he’ll start to falter. 

 

“Go Lance!” Hunk shouts out of nowhere, “ _ Whooo _ !”

 

Lance grins to himself, somehow managing to keep his flow. Hunk’s always been Lance’s biggest cheerleader besides his family, and while he tries to keep the blue paladin grounded and steer him away from some of his more crazy ideas (like the food goo board), he’s never had any problem shouting his approval when he can.

 

“Hunk,” Shiro’s voice is amused, “you’ll distract him.”

 

“I don’t think he will,” Pidge’s voice chimes in, “he used to do this literally all the time at the Garrison.”

 

“Pump me up bud!” Lance calls breathlessly, feeling himself start to break a sweat. He’s doing well so far, but he’s not used to having to endlessly dodge like this. In normal circumstances, he’d have normally tried to put distance between himself and the gladiator by now in hopes of getting a kill shot. 

 

The gladiator seamlessly switches to swinging wide arcs again, which nearly catches Lance off guard. 

 

“Whoa!” he yelps, narrowly escaping a blow he feels may have broken his jaw with how hard the gladiator swings. What level is this thing set on again?

 

“Yeah Lance!” Hunk cheers again. The blue paladin gives a wheezing chuckle as he does his best to keep dodging while maintaining a workable distance. The gladiator is just about to the point where Lance will start having some major issues. 

 

Shiro does not try to dissuade Hunk from his cheers again. (Which Lance calls shenanigans on by the way, because he definitely got a  _ look  _ when he tried to run commentary on Keith’s round earlier.)

 

Hunk’s excited voice makes the backdrop for Lance’s movements as he keeps stepping and ducking. He won’t last much longer, the blue paladin is uncomfortably aware of his weaknesses, and close quarters has always been near the top. Though he has to imagine he’s close to Pidge’s time at this point. He’s certainly outlasted Hunk by this point, but that makes sense because Hunk is a tank that works better with countering than straight up dodging. 

 

The gladiator twirls the staff in a ridiculous move that forces Lance to jump backwards, and he knows that this is it. He loses the moment his feet leave the ground, because in the time it takes him to steady them again, the gladiator has moved into his blind spot. 

 

Lance immediately loses focus on it’s arms as they become blurs, but the movement itself speaks of a play for his midsection. Determined to go out having done his absolute best, Lance throws his upper body and bends backwards at the waist. The staff just barely passes harmlessly over him. 

 

If not for Lance’s chest currently burning with effort and the sweat trying it’s best to pool in his eyes, then he may have been able to pull one more dodge off. As it stands though, he’s helpless to do anything but take the blow that comes straight down.

 

“Gah!” Lance cries out as the gladiator gets him right in the middle of the chest vertically. Naturally, the armor takes most of the hit for him, but it still hurts, and it still winds him completely. 

 

“End training sequence,” Shiro’s voice is prompt, and the gladiator immediately burst back into particles of light.

 

Lance lies there for a second, breathing heavily and groaning when he can manage.

  
  


“That was awesome!” Hunk’s voice calls, and Lance manages a tiny grin despite the fact that his chest feel like it’s on literal fire.

 

“You beat my time!” Pidge’s voice huffs, “ugh! It’s because you’re so  _ bendy _ !”

 

The blue paladin merely offers a weak thumbs up.

 

“Well done,” Shiro comes into view, right arm extended.

 

In Lance’s triumph and his tiredness, he almost forgets to pay close attention to Shiro’s face. Almost.

 

The black paladin is giving him a small smile, eye alight with approval. And Lance would feel elated if he hadn’t noticed just how much bigger Shiro smiles at everyone else this past week. His face is more stoic than happy, and while he seems to be appraising Lance slightly as though he’s seeing him in a new light, it still has that clinical detachment of a commanding officer looking at a recruit.

 

Lance swallows heavily, but takes Shiro’s hand and allows his leader to pull him to his feet. 

 

Even when he does well, and Lance knows that he did well just now, Shiro’s gaze carries almost no warmth to it.

 

“I’m a little surprised, honestly,” and Lance kind of wishes that Shiro would stop using that word when it comes to the blue paladin impressing him somehow.

 

“I’m a lot surprised,” Keith chimes in for no justifiable reason, “didn’t know you could move like that, let alone last that long.”

 

Lance’s first instinct is to scowl and provide a huffy response, but he only gets halfway there before Hunk cuts in.

 

“You ok man?” the yellow paladin studiosly directs the topic elsewhere, “that seemed like a hard hit you took there.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Lance breathes out, rubbing at his chest through his armor. “Those gladiators pack a friggin’ punch, my dude.”

 

“You’re not hurt are you?” Shiro expresses genuine worry here. But he’s the leader, and a more-than-decent guy, so of course he’d be worried about someone getting hurt. Lance decides to test a theory.

 

“Aw…” he smiles as obnoxiously as he allows his voice to be, “are you  _ worried about me _ ? I knew you cared~” 

 

Shiro’s face immediately shutters, concern shoved out of the way by exasperation. Keith huffs a sigh from the black paladin’s side, Pidge snorts.

 

“Of course I’m worried,” the change in the leader’s voice is so very subtle that Lance wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t actively looking for it, “beyond the fact that I’m responsible for you, your well being affects the whole team,” Shiro says seriously. “So if you’re hurt Lance, I need you to tell me and not joke about it.”

 

It’s only years of practice that keeps Lance’s smile from dropping unnaturally. 

 

“I’m fine bossman,” he responds, “no worries here.”

 

“Good,” Shiro nods, “now let’s talk about your maneuvering.”

 

Lance nods seriously, eager to hear what Shiro’s going to say.

 

The blue paladin knows for a fact that he did better than the leader expected of him, and while a lot of that can be attributed to Lance knowing the staff gladiators patterns so well by now, he’s hoping that the leader will recognize this as a success and not the fluke it probably was.

 

“Your control of your body is superb,” Shiro states plainly, “I’m a bit taken aback honestly, I didn’t realize that you could isolate your movements like that. It clearly worked out in your favor.”

 

Lance gives a shallow grin. “ _Taken_ _aback_ ” is just another way of saying “ _surprised_ ”. He wonders just how he managed to give Shiro the idea that he’s such a pleb. It must have been something that he did, because there’s no other way that the black paladin should think he’s this incapable. 

 

“I could tell you were analyzing the situation very well,” Shiro compliments, “there didn’t seem to be a strike you hadn’t already accounted for beforehand.”

 

Lance finds himself flushing just the slightest bit at that. It’s not praise, the leader’s tone is too noncommittal for that, it’s merely an acknowledgment of what he observed. Still, Lance holds Shiro’s opinion very highly, and the fact that he noticed this means that he was really paying attention to Lance. 

 

“You need to work on your stamina though,” Shiro says firmly, “while you did beat both Pidge and Hunk’s time as far as lasting without taking a hit, you tired yourself out far too much doing it. That skill at controlling your body is impressive, but it takes a lot of effort that you seem to not have accounted for, you’re still catching your breath as we speak. That kind of turn around could be dangerous in the field.”

 

Lance has nothing to say to that really, so he just nods. Shiro’s not wrong about that, he is still catching his breath.

 

“You could stand to rely a bit more on your instincts,” Shiro suggests, “you don’t get that proficient at isolation without developing a bit of muscle memory along the way. Sometimes it’s ok to trust your body to know what to do so you don’t spend too much time in your head. You allocated a lot of energy to simply watching and preparing.”

 

“Ok…?” Lance responds hesitantly. He has to admit, he’s a bit confused. What Shiro says definitely makes sense on a broad sense, and Lance does spend far too much time in his own head (both on a battlefield and off). But for the purpose of this exercise, to dodge and not fight back for as long as possible? He doesn’t quite understand how relying more on instinct could help him. Lance needed to dodge, and to dodge he needed to prepare his body to do so, and to prepare his body to do so he needed to be aware of exactly what his opponent was going to do. His instincts would have told him to put one in the gladiators chest, right where a human ribcage would begin to separate (which is where the gladiators are most vulnerable, they’ve learned).

 

“Take Keith for example…” Shiro begins thoughtfully, and Lance’s mind immediately shuts down.

 

Of course.

 

Of  _ fucking course _ .

 

Keith lasted the second longest, just behind Shiro by a few seconds. So of course that’s the standard here. Nevermind that Lance and Keith are two completely different people with different skillsets (and Keith’s just  _ has  _ to be so much more varied than his). Nevermind that they’re completely different height and weight classes. Lance’s arms are longer and lankier than Keith’s, as are his legs. He has to control his body. Instincts do  _ not  _ work for him on that front. 

 

But who cares about that? Shiro likes Keith. 

 

He does not like Lance.

 

“You understand what I mean?” the black paladin asks simply, as though he didn’t just invalidate every single good thing he said about Lance before bringing the red paladin into it. 

 

“Sure,” Lance nods, “Instincts.”

 

And the worst part is that Shiro doesn’t even notice he’s doing it. Their leader’s face is earnest if not a bit detached. He truly believes that Lance needs to emulate Keith in battle in order to better himself. And he probably isn’t even aware of the fact that he’s comparing them right now. Isn’t aware of just how much it hurts Lance’s feelings. Isn’t aware of just how much it makes Lance feel like everything he tries to do, to accomplish, to prove, is for nothing. 

 

Why?

 

Because Shiro doesn’t like Lance. Hell, the guy probably dislikes him even. And why would he notice the finer things about someone he doesn’t want to notice at all?

 

“Right,” Shiro gives a small quirk of the lips, so Lance’s face must not be letting on to his inner turmoil. “You really did very well though, I’m impressed.”

 

Doesn’t matter now.

 

“Thanks bossman!” Lance grins cheerfully, “I guess I’ll try to work on these  _ ‘instincts’  _ you speak of! Never really considered it before.”

 

“I think it will really go a long way,” Shiro nods back, before turning and addressing the rest of the paladins. “Anyways, I think that’s enough for today.” the leader decides. “You all did well, and we’ll revisit this exercise in a few weeks time. Coran said we should be able to move in a few ‘quintaints’...whatever those are.”

 

“I think they might be…” Pidge’s voice fades out as Lance stops listening. He’s aware of the green and black paladins making their way to the doors of the training deck. A flash of red catches his sight, and he angles his head slightly to look at Keith.

 

The shorter boy looks oddly uncomfortable for some reason, actually wringing his hands and making some weird movements with his mouth like he wants to open it and say something.

 

“If you’re about to plead the case of your mullet,” Lance jibes weakly, “then I’m sorry to say that the jury’s already come back on it.”

 

“Lance,” Keith says hesitantly, frowning slightly.

 

“The verdict?” Lance continues on, giving a brittle smile. “An absolute  _ travesty _ . Ten out of ten do not recommend.” 

 

Keith huffs, looking frustrated for a few moments. 

 

“Really Lance?” the red paladin demands.

 

“Hey man,” the taller of the two responds with a shrug, “the people have spoken. Respect our court system.”

 

Keith rolls his eyes so hard that Lance thinks for a second that they might up and slither out of his sockets. “Whatever,” the boy says, turning to walk away. 

 

“Our forefathers died for these freedoms Keith!” Lance calls after him, “Honor their legacy!  _ Down with the mullet _ !”

 

The red paladin makes a  _ very rude  _ hand gesture in return.

 

“Now that’s just mean,” Lance pouts, even though Keith isn’t looking. “What would Lincoln say?”

 

“You did good.”

 

“Eh?” Lance gets out, eyebrows scrunching in confusion. Keith pauses just before crossing the doors out of the room. Doesn’t look back as he speaks.

 

“That was good,” the red paladin’s voice is quiet, “I’m not that flexible.”

 

“What?” Lance asks. Has the universe inverted itself or something?

 

Keith says nothing more, and proceeds to vacate the premises. 

 

What.

 

“Did you see that?” Lance turns to where Hunk has been standing this entire time right behind him. He tries to ignore the serious look on his friend’s face. “Keith Kogane just gave me credit where credit was due!”

 

Not in Shiro’s eyes though, apparently.

 

Hunk stares.

 

“I must have looked mighty pitiful if he felt the need to try and lie to make me feel better,” Lance laughs weakly. His words are a little too honest to be speaking to Hunk right now if he wants to avoid the situation, Lance realizes a little too late.

 

“Buddy,” Hunk says imploringly.

 

“I mean,” Lance tries to backtrack. He’s not ready to open this can of worms. “Keith spends like, seventy percent of his life training! And he expects me to believe that he’s not just as bendy if not more?”

 

“I don’t think he was lying,” Hunk replies simply. Lance’s face drops. 

 

Dammit. Hunk’s determined to talk. Lance was hoping that his friend would pick up his lead and that they’d start comparing Keith to a pretzel or a snake of something, but the yellow paladin is merely standing there. Staring with those ridiculously big eyes.

 

“And I don’t think Shiro meant to-”

 

“Tsuyoshi,” Lance says quietly, and the use of his real name is enough to stop Hunk in his tracks, jaw snapping shut. “Please,” the blue paladin mutters, “I don’t wanna talk about this right now.”

 

“But Lance…” Hunk protests somberly.

 

“I  _ can’t  _ talk about this right now.” Lance states. Not until he knows what he’s going to do about it. If he does anything about it. 

 

Because now he has to add ‘ _ I’m not like Keith enough _ ’ to his “ _ Reasons Why Shiro Doesn’t Like Me _ ” list. And he’s not sure what to do about that. He desperately hopes that this isn’t the reason why. That Shiro just views Keith as the pinnacle of melee achievement or some shit.

 

Because the only way to do something about that, is to try a be more like Keith, and Lance knows himself well enough to know that he should  _ not  _ go down that road. There’s no telling the damage he’d do to himself. Not to mention the fact that it would be totally unfair to Keith. And Lance has actually come to be quite fond of the red paladin. 

 

So for now he’s just going to keep asking questions, and looking for the answers.

 

“You’ve been acting weird all week Lance,” Hunk says softly, “It’s starting to worry me.”

 

“Aw buddy,” Lance says with a smile. He hates to make people worry over him, but making Hunk worry is a special type of no-no for him. “I’m ok, I pro-”

 

Lance doesn’t make promises he can’t keep.

 

“I’m ok,” he repeats quickly, but Hunk’s face says that the yellow paladin noticed. 

 

“Lance,” Hunk insists.

 

“I’m just working through something,” Lance insists right back, “I promise that I’m just trying to figure something out.”

 

The yellow paladin seems to relax a bit at that, but his eyes are still skeptical.

 

“I’m trying to figure something out,” the blue paladin repeats, “but when I do, I’ll be sure to talk to you.” 

 

“Promise?” Hunk prompts.

 

Lance sighs, “Promise.”

 

Hunk stares at him for a good moment, before seeming to come a decision and nodding slightly.

 

“I’ll hold you to that,” the yellow paladin says firmly.

 

“I’d expect nothing less.”

 

Hunk doesn’t say anything more, and like the best bro he is, the yellow paladin moves to leave the training deck. He knows that Lance will want some time alone with his thoughts right now. 

 

Lance stares blankly out into the air for a moment, before directing his attention to the spot where the gladiator had got him. His eyes kind of sting. His voice is nearly silent when he speaks.

 

“Your  _ responsibility _ , huh?’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know exactly where I'm going with this now. And Buckle up folks, this is probably going to be a long one.
> 
> So here we have Lance still trying to find his footing after figuring out that Shiro doesn't like him. He doesn't know what to do about it yet, and is really just trying to get the full story behind it before he decides to move forward. Of course his pal Hunk-a-funk has to be right by his side all the way, but I think for the purpose of this narrative, that Keith and Lance's friendship is going to end up playing a bigger role than Hunk and Lance's friendship. At some point we will get some other POVs in here other than Lance's but this is primarily going to be told from his eyes.
> 
> Dancer/Gymnast Lance Headcanon for the win lol!
> 
> But seriously, to be a gunner I feel like one has to have mad good analytical skills in a fight in order to make it work, and I love the idea that Lance gets into the hyperaware headspace in fight that he really keeps to himself most of the times. 
> 
> And as another note, this fic obviously diverges from canon, but I imagine it set after the events of season one, but not following along with the events of season two. So don't expect to see the Blade or Slav or any of that sort in this particular story. And as far as the ages, I'm going with Lance and Hunk as 17/18 (because space time lol), Keith as 18/19 (because for some reason Keith as second-oldest paladin just gives me life), the bro Pidge as 14/15, and Shiro as 20/21 (because I'm still a bit unclear on the canon ages of the paladins, but I can't really imagine Shiro being that much older than the rest of them). 
> 
> Anyways, thanks as always for reading! I hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for more!
> 
> Stay safe and happy!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has no idea what Shiro was thinking earlier when he was giving Lance feedback on his dodging. The advice was certainly sound, and something that Keith would take seriously, but the red paladin isn’t quite sure why Shiro felt the need to present it like that to Lance of all people. 
> 
> Because for as much as Lance is an impossible read, especially to Keith, anyone with eyes could have seen how the boy had shut down when Shiro had brought up Keith’s name. So why didn’t Shiro seem to notice?
> 
> “Something on your mind?” the person in question asks, not even turning where he’s focused on his tablet. Keith waits a moment. Tries to collect his thoughts before he speaks.
> 
> “Do you really think that Lance needs to work on his instincts more when it comes to close-range combat?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof. It's back guys. I'm back. 
> 
> So...I'll save the prose and apologies for the end notes, but just know, BreakTheDawn is back on track and ready to get things done! So to anyone still willing to bear with me on this story, please enjoy this update!
> 
> I feel it necessary to say this considering just how far the show has come since I've last updated. This story really only uses season one and season two canon to a certain extent, though you may find some current canon elements and details as I build this story back up.

When Lance was eight years old, his parents had a terrible habit of being late to pick him up from school. 

If anyone were to ask then, and even now, he would be steadfast and determined in his defense of them. They were busy, they had to work, his older siblings had to work as well, and Lance had went to a different school than his little siblings specifically because of its english language program. Because even at the that tender age, he’d known that he wanted to go to space when he was older. And the way to space was in America.

So he’d went to a small specialized school almost completely on the other side of town from his family home, and he’d more often than not end up stuck there for a good hour or two after his classes ended. 

There had been this one teacher, his english teacher actually, who would stay with him until his parents could finally make it there. Mrs. Monae was the best person ever to little Lance, back then. She always spent time with him, helped him get better at his english speaking, and didn’t seem to get mad when he talked too much. In his book, that had made her a friend.

“I’m glad your my friend Mrs. Monae,” little Lance had said thoughtlessly, one such day. He hadn’t noticed how she’d stiffened a bit at the words, nor did he notice her small sigh and somewhat sad little smile.

“Alejandro,” she’d said, calling him his actual name instead of his chosen english name. “I’m not your friend.”

“W-what?” little Lance had asked, a little bit confused, a lot bit hurt. He didn’t have any friends in class, or even in school really. Every thought he talked too much or was a crybaby. Mrs. Monae was super nice to him, she had to be his friend, right?

“We are not friends, Alejandro,” the woman had repeated firmly. “I’m your teacher and you are my student.”

“But we can be friends too!” little Lance had insisted, because she was so nice to him! There was no way that they weren’t friends.

“No,” she shook her head, “we can’t.”

“W-why not?” he’d asked quietly, “Is it because I’m not that good at english?”

“No Alejandro,” Mrs. Monae had denied. “You’re very good at english,” she’d went on, “I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll sound like a native speaker someday. And it’s my job to help you do that. Not to be your friend.”

“I don’t get it…” he’d murmured sadly. He couldn’t believe that his only friend didn’t want to be friends with him anymore!

“You’re my responsibility, Alejandro,” Mrs. Monae had attempted to explain using that word. “And because you’re my responsibility, I cannot be your friend, understand? I have a job to do here, and it involves helping you, but we would not even be around each other if not for my job.”

That had hurt. A lot.

“You wouldn’t want to be around me if you weren’t my teacher?” he’d asked softly.

Mrs. Monae’s face had twisted a bit like that, and she seemed a bit sad too now. The woman hesitated a bit before answering.

“No Alejandro,” she said stiffly, “I wouldn’t. You are not my child, and I’d have no reason to speak to you if I were not your teacher. It’s not appropriate for us to be friends.”

“So I have to lose you as a friend?” little Lance had asked miserably, now on the verge of tears. His teacher had sighed and shook her head.

“I’m responsible for you, Alejandro. We have never been friends.”

…

Lance wonders if Shiro approaches his job like Mrs. Monae had.

They’re not friends, the blue paladin realizes as he lies on his bunk dejectedly. They’ve never been friends, and Lance isn’t quite sure what made him think that they were. Because the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that Shiro has treated Lance like a responsibility since the beginning of their time in space. 

The careful and cautious friendliness he’d displayed when they’d rescued him from the Garrison had quickly diminished as Shiro got to know how Lance tended to act on a regular basis. The boy huffs a breath as he thinks back on the obvious evidence that their leader has only ever thought of him as a job. 

He and Hunk didn’t have the advantage of Shiro knowing them prior to this whole thing like Keith and Pidge did, and so the leader had been a bit hesitant and reluctant to reach out to them. The concern that the leader had displayed over Lance when the explosion with Coran happened was just that. A leader being concerned over the charge they were responsible for. 

Lance frowns.

And yet Shiro had bridged that gap with Hunk at some point. Which isn’t surprising, because Hunk is Hunk and anyone who doesn’t warm to him eventually is evil. Lance knows that he’s nowhere near as likeable as his best friend, but he also knows that actually have fairly similar habits. They’re both dramatic and emotional and joke around a lot more than they probably should considering their circumstances. 

The blue paladin hums. 

When he really thinks about it actually, Shiro’s had to bridge a gap with Keith and Pidge too. The red paladin had immediately latched onto the oldest paladin’s presence at the start of all this, and while Shiro had allowed it, Lance knows that they didn’t reach a comfortable dynamic right from the get go. And it wasn’t until a bit after the whole situation with the Castle getting taken that Shiro had started getting really close to Pidge. So, not completely like Mrs. Monae.

Maybe he just needs something to make Shiro want to bridge that gap with him? Because Hunk, Pidge and Keith have all done things that earn Lance that look at least once in the past, and yet Shiro has never looked at one of them like that. Of course, Lance does annoying things more than all three of them combined, but he honestly believes that it helps more than it hurts at the end of the day. They’re all too young to be taking themselves too seriously after all, and it wouldn’t do for them to return to Earth completely unable to reintegrate themselves because they lost everything about them not related to war. 

It could be that the black paladin doesn’t actually dislike Lance. That Lance just hasn’t given him enough reason to look past his more annoying habits.

“But what do I do about that?” Assuming the reason Shiro doesn’t like him is actually because the black paladin can’t look past his sense of responsibility, then he’d have to do something make Shiro feel comfortable looking past it other than his personality. 

Which would mean that he’d have to do something to prove his skill to the team. 

Because Lance knows that Hunk impresses Shiro on a regular basis, and that’s probably what made the black paladin warm up to him. Keith is the ace of the team, the blue paladin can begrudgingly admit that, being the best pilot and the one crazy enough to do completely uncalled-for shit and lucky enough to come out of it alive and stronger every time. And Pidge is a genius.

The thought process causes him to frown again. 

Because if that’s what he has to do get Shiro to like him, then he’s going to need them to stop keeping him from going on the special small missions. It’s already been proven that he’s not going to impress the leader in the castle. His sparring isn’t good enough if he can’t fight like Keith, and Shiro just plain doesn’t believe that Lance knows enough engineering to help Hunk out from time to time. 

But asking to go on the missions just get Shiro and Allura all fussy with him. So maybe he doesn’t have a choice but to try and do something here while they’re still kind of stranded. And since he absolutely refuses to try and emulate Keith’s devil-may-care fighting style…

....

“What.”

Lance would laugh at Pidge’s completely dumbfounded expression if he didn’t have a goal in mind right about now.

“I said,” the blue paladin repeats, “I want you help me install a cloaking device on Blue.”

Pidge continues to stare at him like she’s seeing what he looks like for the very first time and has to commit every new detail to memory. This stretches on for a tense minute before Lance finally cracks.

“What?” he huffs, “Is it really that surprising? I’ve been talking about how cool I think Green’s cloaking device is for ages now!”

“And begging for me to come up with something cool for Blue too,” Pidge cuts in, “not asking me to help you do it.”

“What?” Lance repeats, unable to keep his rising irritation out of his voice. “You don’t think I can handle modding my own Lion?”

Because she’s looking at him the way Shiro looked at him when he proclaimed to have had a part in modding the hoverboards. That disbelieving gaze that makes him feel like a straight up idiot when he’s not.

“Whoa,” Pidge raises her hands cautiously, “that’s not what I said, Lance. Keep a check on the claws, I was just surprised is all.”

“I am not stupid,” Lance says vehemently, “I can do it. I just need you to show me how.”

“Okay, okay!” Pidge waves her hands, giving him an odd look. “I’ll help you put a cloaking device on Blue. I don’t know what’s up with you lately, you’ve been acting weird all week and now this?”

“Maybe I’m just bored from being confined to the castle all the time,” the blue paladin says petulantly, crossing his arms and definitely not pouting.

“Oh…” Pidge nods to herself, looking back down to her laptop. “I get it,” she says plainly, “you’re mad that Allura and Shiro aren’t letting you go on stealth missions so you want Blue to be able to do what Green can do.”

“Um…” Lance mutters dumbly. Because that was so not where he was going with this. He has no illusions about them choosing Blue over Green for a stealth mission, even if his Lion had a similar cloaking device. Blue is significantly larger than Green, and while Lance can maneuver her faster and better than Pidge can maneuver Green, his Lion is still a bigger target that can’t get into small spaces as well. 

Honestly, he really just wants to show Shiro that he can be just as resourceful as their two smartest paladins if he puts his mind to it. The only reason he’s asking Pidge about a cloaking device and not Hunk about improving Blue’s hull of thrusters is because the yellow paladin is bound to ask uncomfortable questions at this point. That stupid training session was only just last night, after all. 

“Sure,” he says anyway. Because Pidge has noticed his odd behavior lately as well. Better to let her think it’s just about the missions as opposed to giving her a reason to stick her nose into it more. 

“I’m not so sure it’s going to work out how you want it too,” the green paladin warns, “but I suppose it’s still going to be for the better in the long run anyway. I’ll get started on it.”

Lance frowns.

“You mean we’ll get started on it,” he corrects.

Pidge looks up at him curiously for that, “You were serious about wanting to help?”

“Of course I was serious,” Lance huffs, “I came to you didn’t I?”

The girl stares at him for a bit more.

“I told you,” the blue paladin says firmly, “if you show me how, then I’ll do it. You can watch me and stop me if I look like I’m about to fuck something up majorly.”

“Wow…” Pidge mutters, examining him in a way that makes Lance feel mildly uncomfortable. “You’re really trying to prove a point here, aren’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance asks, half-way offended, half-way cautious. He really doesn’t need Pidge and Hunk on his case about this.

“You don’t normally want to take charge on something like this…” Pidge points out quietly. 

She’s right. 

Lance knows his strengths, but more than that, he knows his weaknesses. And he’s never been the type of person who felt the need to see something through when he knows that someone else he trusts is better equipped to handle the task. He’s always been the type to want to be better, to work on himself until he was a level that he himself was satisfied with (even it’s hard to be satisfied with himself around so many prodigious people all the time). But Lance had learned very early on that some battles just weren’t his to fight, not matter how much he’d wanted to prove himself. 

So while he may be interested in helping Hunk and Pidge with their nerd-like endeavors from time to time, if only to prove to himself that he can, Lance generally knows when to leave the work to the experts and move on.

But he can’t be so complacent this time. 

It’s become startlingly clear to Lance in the short time of him observing Shiro’s attitude towards him, that the Black Paladin thinks of Lance as incompetent in some way. What with his constant being “surprised” or “taken-aback” that the blue paladin knows how to dodge strikes from an opponent that they’re all more than familiar with. Lance can’t have that, even if he wasn’t determined to fix this issue with Shiro not liking him, he cannot have the team leader thinking that he can’t contribute anything of worth to the team. Lance is already his own harshest critic, he doesn’t need the extra help.

So to prove his skill, he can’t just simply help the expert. He has to become the expert.

“Like I said,” Lance says in a tone that doesn’t invite anymore commentary, “I’m bored.”

Pidge lifts an eyebrow, staring him dead in the eyes. Lance stares back. Let it go for now, he tries to impart.

“Ok,” Pidge shrugs. I’ll let you deal with this, for now, her gaze says. So much for not having his Garrison squad on his back. “Let’s go have a look at Blue.”

It’s a necessary evil, Lance figures. Lance sees Shiro everyday, they train together, they rake meals together, they fight together (though not so much recently), he trusts Shiro to watch his back. At one point he assumed that Shiro trusted him to watch the elder’s back as well. 

Quite frankly, Lance is just not okay with being this person’s responsibility.

…

To put it in the most simple terms that he can manage, Keith misses Shiro. 

Contrary to popular belief, Keith is actually a very self-aware person. He knows himself well, he has to. Because the only person Keith has had for a very long time has been himself. He knows that he has trouble relating to people. He knows that he has temperament issues. He knows that he comes off as volatile and unapproachable. He knows that he has a one track mind and a stubborn streak. He knows that is sometimes gets him into trouble with authority and sometimes screws his ability to work on a team. Keith knows himself very well, it's when it comes to learning other people that he's hopeless.

Shiro was the exception. 

His friend was one of the only people willing to deal with Keith's issues. The only one willing to look past his harsh exterior and still be interested in the boy beneath it. Shiro had gotten to know Keith, pushed him to be the best version of himself, and Keith had gotten to know Shiro in return. 

It was...overwhelming, to be so in tune with another human being that he could eventually come to read Shiro’s expressions and know what he was thinking. Having that sort of power over someone else had been entirely new to Keith, but he'd soon come to treasure just how easy it made interacting with Shiro. 

Keith could talk to Shiro and feel wholesome and comfortable. He didn’t have to worry about misstepping and offending the elder somehow without realizing that he’d even done so. Shiro didn’t blindside him with a statement or a reaction so sharply that it made him anxious and frustrated. Every single piece of advice and kindness from Shiro had felt genuine and good. Keith didn’t feel used by Shiro nor did he ever come to the uncomfortable realization that he had taken advantage of Shiro’s faith in him. Everything between them had been so easy, Keith hadn’t even realized that he’d allowed himself to become so dependent on it until Shiro left for Kerberos.

Going to space had never exactly been a goal of Keith’s per se, but more of an eventuality. Keith had always been looking for something. He’d never been able to put a specific name to what it was he so desperately needed to find (still can’t, if he’s being honest), but something had clicked within him when he’d come across a commercial for the Galaxy Garrison towards the end of his time with his fifth foster family. After being too nosy, too volatile, too obsessive over when he believed that things were being purposefully held from him for so long, Keith had come to a conclusion. He could continue his search on Earth, bound by the laws of society and the expectations of social norms that he just didn’t get. Or he could continue in Space, where the only real boundary was how much you could handle the exploration of something seemingly endless. It was an easy choice.

(He’d soon find out that it wasn’t that simple, but by then he’d be considered a prodigious pilot and wouldn’t be able to work up the motivation to drop the one thing he’d become very good at and even enjoyed doing to some extent.)

Shiro going to Kerberos isn’t what had thrown Keith back into his downward spiral. It had actually helped, in a way. Shiro had believed that Keith wouldn’t be very far behind him, and Keith believed in Shiro enough to take him at his word. He’d do better in team-based exercises, Keith had promised. Because the ease of his relationship with Shiro was so very nice, that Keith had come to realize that he was willing to risk trying to find something similar with one or two of his fellow cadets. And there was no better icebreaker than working on a team towards a common goal, Shiro had said. Keith was willing to try. He really, really was. He’d even had it in his head to approach the cargo pilot with the blue eyes and an outstanding record on the shooting simulator that sometimes honed in on Keith with a laser focus- if only because the boy had seemed to be similarly on the outs with the general population of the Garrison cadets, though for seemingly different reasons.

And then the ship to Kerberos had went missing.

If ever the was something that could have broken Keith, hurt something within his chest so sharply and viscerally that it like he could start vomiting blood or something similarly gruesome, it was the news of Shiro’s supposed death. Because it wasn’t even confirmed. They gave a flimsy timeline of dropped communications, and then had simply presumed that the ship had crashed and been lost due to pilot error. Those had been the first signs that something wasn’t right about what they had been spewing. Keith had nothing but faith and confidence in Shiro’s piloting capabilities. The craft they’d created for the mission was one of the most groundbreakingly advanced models that humanity had bore witness to. It essentially had to carry an entire laboratory farther than they’d ever been before without compromising any of the sensitive equipment or chemicals going along. The details had been wasted on Keith, who didn’t really care about the specs of a research ship, and lost on Shiro, who only had a deep understanding of about half the things he was trying to explain to Keith at the time, but they’d both understood enough to know that the ship was one of the most secure and powerful creations to come out of Earth. 

But more than that, it was one of the easiest to fly. 

The Pathfinder (stupid name, in Keith’s opinion), was almost stupidly advanced. The thing was practically going to fly itself to Kerberos. It had failsafe on top of failsafe on top of failsafe. Shiro had literally been chosen to pilot because he had proven that he could theoretically pull off anything that the Pathfinder was already programmed to do by itself just in case something went awry with the ship’s tech. One last failsafe, Shiro had said. He wasn’t even going to need a co-pilot. He just had to make sure that the ship stayed on its course. 

For the Garrison to simply attribute the ship’s disappearance to pilot error, just didn’t make any sense. And it made even less sense that they had no plans of sending out a rescue craft. 

This wasn’t a fact that he been leaked to the public, but Keith had already started looking into things that he shouldn’t have been looking into in order to figure out just what the fuck had happened, so he’d learned rather early in that there was no retrieval mission in the works. It was absurd. Shiro had been the face of the Garrison, their biggest measure of success in their military piloting program, Matt Holt had been one of the most respected biochemists of their generation. And Sam Holt was one of the most decorated and revered Garrison Officials to be known, on top of being a trailblazer in the field of science himself. To not even be interested in learning what happened to three of the most important and well-known names not only amongst the Garrison, but amongst the world? 

The Garrison higher-ups had to have known more about what happened than they let on, and they didn’t want the public knowing. So Keith starting asking questions. Loud questions.

The Garrison had everything it needed to silence Keith. He had a bad disciplinary record. He’d only did ok in his academics. He didn’t make any meaningful relationships with any professor or other cadet that would take up for him. He didn’t have anywhere to go other than the Garrison. So they booted him.

Living alone in the desert was...hard, to say the least. But Keith had never shied away from things being difficult before, only one more thing for him to overcome. He’d figure out what the Garrison was hiding, he would get the answers he needed, and he wouldn’t stop until he knew exactly what happened to Shiro. 

But what he wasn’t prepared for- through that year of listening to useless Garrison chatter, trying to keep himself alive in that shack, hunting down leads, coming across other potential conspiracies, trying to translate and make sense of the odd hieroglyphics- the ache of not having Shiro there with him.

Keith had been unprepared to deal with how good it felt to have such an easy relationship with another human being, but he’d been completely blindsided just how much it hurt to lose said relationship. Keith had always considered himself as tougher than that, but not even two weeks into his time alone with just his thoughts and his obsession to find answers, he’d found himself missing Shiro so much that literally hurt sometimes. And he’d known, just how much the idea of emotions causing him physical didn’t make sense. But Keith had felt it, a pain in his chest and a heaviness in his head that made it hard to even function at times when he felt like he was getting nowhere.

And then they’d found Shiro in that god-awful facility. 

Keith had been ecstatic to have his friend back where he could see and keep him safe. Shiro had been hurt, a little broken, and Keith had been sad to see that some of the light that he’d grown to treasure seeing in his friend’s eyes had died. It was sad, but Shiro was back. That’s all that had mattered. Keith didn’t have to miss him anymore.

At least that’s he thought at first.

Looking at Shiro’s back now, as the black paladin attempts to play some odd altean game on his data tablet while Keith is presumably doing sit-ups behind him in one of the castle’s many rooms that they’ve repurposed into a pseudo-gym. Keith feels like his still misses him. 

The ease that they once had isn’t exactly gone, but it’s certainly not what it once was. For one, Keith isn’t even sure of how much Shiro even remembers about their interactions pre-Kerberos. The black paladin doesn’t reference much, and he never really brings up the Garrison in conversation. Keith doesn’t reference much either, because he’s found that he can’t really read Shiro’s expressions all that well anymore, and he’s afraid of what he can’t see in the elder’s eyes when Keith tries to bring them back to the level of closeness that they had before. And he understands that things have to be different now, and that all he really needs to do is be patient with this version of Shiro like the old version of Shiro was patient with him. And that’s something that Keith is more than prepared to do. 

But there’s other factors at play now. They’re fighting an intergalactic war, against an enemy with an unfathomable headstart on them. They have a team of people around them that Keith literally has to make an effort to get to know, because their strongest weapon relies on it. Shiro’s health and wellbeing are two of his biggest priorities right now, but part of trying to keep Shiro alive and healthy means that he has to somehow bridge the gap between himself and the three other paladins. Which Keith has done surprisingly well so far, but he’s afraid that even that’s about to become more difficult than usual. 

Keith has no idea what Shiro was thinking earlier when he was giving Lance feedback on his dodging. The advice was certainly sound, and something that Keith would take seriously, but the red paladin isn’t quite sure why Shiro felt the need to present it like that to Lance of all people. 

Because for as much as Lance is an impossible read, especially to Keith, anyone with eyes could have seen how the boy had shut down when Shiro had brought up Keith’s name. So why didn’t Shiro seem to notice?

“Something on your mind?” the person in question asks, not even turning where he’s focused on his tablet. Keith waits a moment. Tries to collect his thoughts before he speaks.

“Do you really think that Lance needs to work on his instincts more when it comes to close-range combat?” the red paladin asks. Because honestly, as much as he respects Shiro’s expertise and experience (no matter how somber said experience may be), Keith is under the personal impression that Lance does much better as a precision fighter. Sure, he could certainly build muscle memory by practicing more and probably get faster at evaluating his moves and his enemies’ moves, but instincts don’t actually seem like the thing that would have worked for Lance in the given situation.

“I do,” Shiro answers plainly, not much inflection in his voice. Keith doesn’t know what to make of his tone when he speaks about Lance, and it bothers him sometimes. “It could go a long way towards helping him better distribute his time and effort. He thinks too much.”

Keith would agree on the thinking too much, but Shiro’s approach is still throwing him off.

“Did you really have to throw my name in it?” the red paladin asks, going for casual. “Now he’s just going to keep trying to one-up me and this rival thing will never die.”

Shiro doesn’t seem to pick up on the discomfort in Keith’s tone, because he merely sighs.

“That whole rivalry thing is kind of ridiculous,” he states, “but it helps motivate him. I think his competitive nature is what’s going to help him thrive out here. I’m sorry that it seems to be fixated on you, Keith, but that’s where I find Lance to be most focused. And I thought you enjoyed competing with him?”

Shiro’s right on the latter point. Keith does in fact low key enjoy testing out his skills by putting himself against Lance. Their approaches to things are so different, that he always finds himself getting something out of his little squabbles with the blue paladin. Whether or not Lance feels the same, Keith can’t say. But what he can say, is that Lance is not the most focused when he’s trying to one up Keith. As a matter of fact, Keith would go as far as to wager that Lance isn’t very focused at all when he’s trying to one-up the red paladin. He seems to let his emotions take the wheel, and doesn’t perform nearly as well as Pidge and Hunk swear he can perform.

“Are you...sure about that?” he asks quietly. Shiro turns a concerned gaze on him.

“Yes?” the black paladin responds, before his expression turns sheepish. “I’m sorry Keith, I shouldn't expect you to take on the responsibility of helping Lance in that capacity without making sure that you’re ok with it first.”

“No, I’m fine with helping him.” Keith backtracks, not wanting Shiro feel guilty, and also unsure of what he needs to say to get his point across. It hurts. Not knowing what to say to Shiro of all people. “If...that’s what you think will help?”

Shiro gives a tiny smile, “I really do. Lance has a lot of potential, he just needs the right motivation.”

Keith hums in response, going back to his sit-ups. Somehow, he’s not so sure that Shiro’s idea of motivation will be helpful for Lance. He’ll follow through though. 

Shiro’s never steered him wrong yet.

….

“So the logic behind Green’s cloaking device is based in refraction and works by manipulating the visible light around a particular radius,” Pidge explains, full-on nerd mode as they sit leisurely next to Blue’s inner black box. She has her laptop connected to five different interfaces within the small area, and seems to be running a variety of scans. Lance is admittedly a little intimidated by the ease with which his friend is plugging into an eons-old sentient spaceship. But Blue seems to be purring leisurely in the back of his mind, as though she could care less what they’re trying to work on. Having that sort of trust is both heartwarming and intense all at once.

“So like,” Lance begins, trying to see if he’s got this right. “When you activate Green’s cloaking device, it somehow makes all of the visible light around it...not visible anymore? By deflecting it in a certain way?” 

“Exactly,” Pidge nods, and Lance feels himself warm a little bit inside when she doesn’t express any surprise over him actually understanding what she just said. “Though I don’t know if we’ll be able to apply the same theory to create a device for Blue,” she mutters, “she’s a lot bigger than Green.”

“Hmm…” Lance flops down next to his friend, “so what would work for Blue then?”

“You said that she has a sonar?” 

“Yeah!” Lance says excitedly, “It’s super cool, it has this crazy range and it paints a perfect construct of an area, and if I focus it real sharp, then it can actually-”

“We can work with the sonar,” Pidge smirks up at him, “whenever you’re done nerding out.”

Lance gasps, “you’re right! The tables have turned!” but then he grins, “but can you really blame me? My girl is the best girl, afterall.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the green paladin waves him off, to which Lance scoffs good-naturedly. “We can definitely start a foundation with sonar waves, it’ll help that you already seem to know how to control them.”

“Oh yeah!” Lance cheers, “you hear that girl? We’re about to be one-up on the game!”

Blue purrs excitedly.

“I guess you are,” Pidge says casually, “so what’s wrong?”

Lance pauses.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“You’ve been weird lately, and now you’re doing something that you wouldn’t normally do out of nowhere,” Pidge continues to type away at her laptop, “and I know that you’re bored, but I also know that something like this deviates a little too much from your routine.”

She’s right. Lance won’t try and pretend like she’s not right. He’s a creature of habit, he doesn’t do much out of his routine because he values the normalcy it brings, especially now that they’re stuck in space for an indeterminate time. His routine is important to him, right down to his cosmetics. Very rarely does he do something notably different, and something like modding his Lion with an attachment that they’ll probably never have the chance to use definitely counts as notably different. 

He sighs. Now he’s got both Hunk and Pidge looking at him closely. The difference between Hunk and Pidge though…

“It’s not actually a problem,” Lance admits. Because it’s not. It sucks. His feelings are more than a little bit hurt. But it’s not going to be something that affects anyone but him. “I’ll let you know if it gets to that, though.”

“Hmm,” Pidge hums curiously, still not looking up from her laptop. “Ok.”

“Ok,” Lance gives a little laugh. “Thanks Pidge,” his friends really are the best. He’d like for Shiro to be one of them. “For everything.”

“Yeah,” Pidge still doesn’t look up, but Lance can just barely see her smile.

“Anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I feel as though I owe an explanation for this. Firstly, I am so sorry for leaving this off as long as I have. It was life and college at first and then I kind just...fell out of the fandom. I wasn't feeling it, and I didn't want to try and produce content when I knew that it would be subpar. I kept coming back periodically to see if I could in any way do these characters justice, because that's really what drew me to Voltron, the characters. I haven't always been happy with how the show has been handling the characters, and I had to reconcile my issues with how the fandom was treating the show for a while. 
> 
> However, I can safely say that I've rekindled my love and passion for the show and expressing it through this medium. I am back and ready to write, guys! Your comments have literally gotten me through this in a way that I can't express. It took looking through every single comment multiple times before I built the confidence back up to continue posting what I've been working on. So thank you indeed!
> 
> Anyways, I'll cut this here now, lol. I'll let the chapter speak for itself, and get back to my normal post-chapter analysis in the next one. One thing I will mention though, is my personal headcanon that the ship too Kerberos had to have been like, super advanced if it just had one pilot in Shiro. Like, not even a co-pilot? So Keith's scene elaborated on a way that I see that being plausible within canon. 
> 
> Stay well and happy! Til next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Headcanon: Shiro did not like Lance at first, and took some time to warm up to him.
> 
> This fic explores the idea of Lance noticing that Shiro hasn't really come to enjoy his company just yet, and our boy trying his best to change Shiro's mind. But because this is Lance and I'm me, angst is obviously the way to go.
> 
> As always, I'm going to try and stay true to character, but I'm making some assumptions about Shiro here and interpreting some of his traits from a different perspective. At times he will come off like an asshole, but I'm focusing on the potential of such an in-your-face person like Lance always being in close quarters with someone who probably wouldn't respond well to that type of personality under normal circumstances. But don't fret fellow Shiro-lovers, he is in fact our cinnamon roll leader underneath it all.


End file.
